The origin of tapas comes from Spain. The idea of small bites or small plates of food was all created for a king that was sick and could not eat much food. Thanks to his unfortunate illness we can now find tapas restaurants all over the country. Tapas is always fun to enjoy with a group of people. It is a great opportunity to try different culinary creations.
Award winning Chef Julian Serrano has a Spanish tapas restaurant inside the Aria Hotel and Casino. It is appropriately called Julian Serrano Tapas.
The décor of the restaurant is beautiful. There are colorful columns, mosaics on the wall, and a bar area that is decorated with filled glass apothecary jars.
To make sure I stuck with the Spanish origin of my meal, I ordered a drink that also originated in Spain, the sangria. I chose the sparkling sangria. It blended vino blanco, orange juice, peach brandy, and spumante. Surprising to me, this sangria was not overly sweet, even with the use of spumante that is very sweet. It had a slight sour taste. What was the most enjoyable was the chopped up fresh strawberries and red raspberries that were in the drink. They were extremely sweet.
Dish number one was the Pan Manchego. It was a fresh baguette with fresh crushed tomatoes spread across it. Then it was topped with a slice of aged Manchego cheese. The tomatoes were extremely sweet and complemented the slight smoky flavor of the cheese. The entire taste made me think about a summer afternoon and picking fresh tomatoes from the garden. The dish was the perfect starter.
The second small plate was called Tender and Crab. It was a prime tenderloin topped with roasted peppers and sprinkled with Dungeness crab meat. The tenderloin was the star of the dish; it was tremendously tender and cooked to a perfect medium. The flavor of the meat shined through, the crab meat only added texture.
The third bite was the Bang-Bang Shrimp. The blue foot shrimp sat in top of little gem lettuce wedges spread with avocado. The shrimp were breaded and fried. They had a huge heat kick at the end of the bite. That’s where the bang-bang came from. The creaminess from the avocado calmed down the heat. After all the shrimp were gone I was able to eat the lettuce wedge with the avocado just like a salad.
I only got to try a few of Chef Serrano’s tapas dishes. The menu was filled with so many other choices that sounded delicious. I would definitely go back to try them all. If you are feeling adventurous and want to share some great food with friends, check out Julian Serrano Tapas at www.aria.com
Enjoy!
T
